Brotherhood
by Dark Knight Gafgar
Summary: Unity. Peace. Keitaro Urashima fights for these ideals, even if the struggle separates him from all he holds dear. Love Hina/Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn crossover.
1. Prologue

**Brotherhood**

**By: Dark Knight Gafgar**

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing that is not mine, and everything that IS mine. Capiche?

-----

**Prologue**

-----

**Sarajevo, Bosnia**

**April 24th, 2002**

They ran.

It was not a pleasant experience for them, warriors more accustomed to facing their enemies head on: men and women perfectly willing to die for their cause. But fighting, now, was pointless. They were outnumbered, outgunned, and - if their intelligence was correct - their current location would cease to exist in just a few short minutes. The order had been given - escape. Split up. Go to ground.

Survive, and await the day of reckoning.

And so they ran.

The transports scattered in all directions, carried on the four winds to sow their seeds wherever they found root. Many were overtaken. Others were not so fortunate.

Yet others escaped.

The black helicopter was one of these, men scrambling aboard it and nine others like it as their superiors waved them onward. It was an eerily silent, controlled panic. None spoke, not even the officers directing their subordinates about the hangar. The only sound the soldiers made was the sound of their boots upon the concrete floors, and that was drowned out by the noise of the helicopter engines as the pilots readied themselves to lift off at a moment's notice.

Behind the men came the crates. Black, metal, with a shield of thick glass over the top, revealing several cannisters of glowing green liquid within. The men who carried them did so as if they carried the Ark of the Covenant itself.

They thought this fitting. The crates were, after all, the key to their salvation.

The men and the crates aboard, the helicopters rose quickly into the sky, fleeing in all directions. The first of these turned west. It continued on it's course for a full minute before a missile found it, the helicopter and it's contents disentigrating in a ball of fire. The second turned north, only to find itself above the enemy's main force. Ground fire brought it down within moments. The third turned south, escaping towards Africa. The fourth turned east toward the Orient, narrowly evading antiaircraft fire before making good it's escape. The fifh followed the third, and the sixth died before even clearing the landing pad, the flaming wreckage falling upon and disabling it's remaining fellows as the enemy turned it's attention - and fire - toward the fleeing transports.

Ten helicopters. Three survived.

Behind them the landing pad - and the temple beyond it - disappeared in a pillar of light.

-----

**Narita International Airport**

**Narita, Greater Tokyo, Japan**

**October 19th, 2002**

The explosion rocked customs on the first floor of Terminal 2, killing dozens, wounding hundreds, and starting a stampede that killed or injured even more as the crowd of survivors panicked. The police response was fairly swift, and within half an hour Narita International Airport was flooded with a sea of flashing lights and sirens. Incoming flights were redirected to nearby Haneda International Airport, all outgoing flights were cancelled, and Narita was entirely closed to the public. Investigators combed the scene of the crime, discovering grisly evidence of an apparent suicide bombing. The news, though hardly noticed in other countries that had their own problems to deal with, spread like wildfire throughout Japan. Television channels across the nation disseminated every scrap of information made available to them as soon as they heard of it, paying little heed to factual accuracy. It would take over a month before the full, true story would become known to the public.

None noticed as several young men and women disappeared into the crowds, having passed through security unsearched and undocumented in the immediate wake of the blast, or the truck that had also slipped out of the airport grounds in the minutes immediately after the explosion.

They would be noticed later.

-----

**Hinata, Greater Tokyo, Japan**

**Two Hours Later**

Keitaro Urashima stood quietly at the top of the stone steps that led up a tall hill on the city outskirts. Before him lay a large, sprawling complex of wood, mortar and tile.

The Hinata Inn.

Or so the note in his hands said.

Keitaro frowned, reading through the note again. '_Hinata Inn, 1 Hinata Street, Hinata, Miura District, Kanagawa Prefecture_'. The address, certainly, was correct, if repetitive.

The sign reading 'Hinata House Girl's Dormitory' hung next to the front entrance was certainly unexpected, however.

Keitaro sighed and shifted his pack. "This better be some kind of joke, grandma..." he muttered to himself, and then proceeded through the front door.


	2. Chapter 1

**Brotherhood**

**By: Dark Knight Gafgar**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing that is not mine, and everything that IS mine. Capiche?

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**Chapter 1**

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**Hinata House Girl's Dormitory**

**Hinata, Greater Tokyo, Japan**

**October 2nd, 2002**

The three met deep within the the labyrinthine series of corridors, tunnels and chambers beneath the Hinata House, in a small stone room with an ominous symbol etched upon one wall - the curved tail of a scorpion, enclosed within a chamfered triangle. Most would have been surprised to find such a room - and more specifically that emblem - hidden beneath a Japanese girl's dormitory.

All would have been surprised to learn the room - and the symbol carved within - were both over five hundred years old.

"I'll be leaving in two weeks."

The two younger women blinked at this declaration, glancing at each other for a moment before turning back towards the speaker.

"Is it... business?" the eldest of the two asked.

"Yes." said Hina Urashima, "There's much work to be done. The GDI may have already declared it's victory after Sarajevo, but they haven't quite won the war. Not yet."

The two nodded, and the youngest spoke up. "Will you be meeting with the Inner Circle?"

"Yes. And I'll be sure to tell your father you said hi, Su-chan."

Kaolla Su smiled and murmured her thanks.

Mitsune Konno looked troubled, however. "What about us? If you're not here, Haruka..."

"All taken care of." Hina said quickly, a slightly pained expression on her face at the mention of her eldest grandchild. "You may have to go it alone for a few days, but you'll be fine. My influence won't necessarily end with my leaving the country."

Mitsune and Kaolla looked relieved, the former most of all. Kaolla had the advantage of both the protection her family connections offered and the fact that her Nod sympathies and activities had not been militant at the time of their public exposure. Mitsune had no such good fortune.

"In any event," Hina continued, "I'll be making the announcement to the rest of the girls right before I leave. I wanted you two to know now."

"Thank you, granny."

"Not to worry, dears. But be sure to stay away from Haruka while I'm gone, at least until my replacement arrives."

Kaolla considered this for a moment. "Who's coming to take over, anyway? A Sister?"

Hina smiled. "A Brother, actually. My grandson Keitaro."

"A guy?" Mitsune blinked. "Uh, not that I don't trust whoever you choose, granny..."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll ask permission before he does anything, Kitsune." Hina smiled as she used the younger girl's formerly (for she rarely acted like a fox these days) apt nickname.

Kitsune blushed. "That's... not what I-"

Hina laughed. "I know, dear. But not to worry, I've made sure there won't be any trouble from official sources."

"And Naru? Or Motoko? They won't take kindly to a guy in the dorms.."

"I'm sure Keitaro can take care of himself. After all..."

Her next words chilled them both.

"He's Black Hand."

-----

**Hinata House Girl's Dormitory**

**Hinata, Greater Tokyo, Japan**

**October 19th, 2002**

Kitsune lay limp on the sofa in the main room, staring blankly at the ceiling and drinking deeply from a bottle of sake. In the three days since granny Hina had left, Kitsune had not set foot outside of the Hinata House, and indeed only left her room while Haruka Urashima, Hina's granddaughter and the temporary manager, was busy with her tea house. The other residents mostly accepted this without question, though they were more than slightly confused by the open hostility Haruka had shown towards the Hinata House's second quietest resident. Though Haruka had always remained cold and distant from the girls, with Hina's departure she had become blatantly aggressive and severe.

_"Both of you had better watch yourselves." she had seethed through clenched teeth immediately after Hina had gone, pointing at Kitsune and Kaolla with a venomous glare that shocked the other residents. "Especially you, bitch," this directed towards the older of the two, "one fuckup from you and you're gone. Got it?"_

_"Y-yes ma'am." Kitsune had replied, eyes down._

_"Haruka! Don't you th-"_

_"Not one word, Narusegawa. Not one word. And you keep your mouth shut too, Aoyama."_

Kitsune had weathered the abuse silently, retreating to her room after Haruka returned to her tea house and locking herself within until the following morning. With a little interference from Naru, Motoko, Kaolla and even little Shinobu, the two had been successfully kept apart and a repeat of the incident avoided.

Now, the oldest of the Hinata House's residents sat alone, drinking and trying to forget.

Kitsune raised the bottle to her lips and drank deeply, ignoring the burn as the alcohol slid it's way down her throat into her stomach. The steam continued for only a second, and then abruptly trickled off into nothing. Kitsune raised the bottle to her eye, peering into the opening and giving it an experimental shake. Nothing.

Sighing, Kitsune let her hand and the empty bottle within it fall to her side, inadvertently brushing the television remote beside her as she did so. The TV came on in rush of sound, and the short-haired girl winced suddenly as the high volume pounded it's way past the alcoholic haze in her mind. She groped about for the remote, desperately seeking the power or mute buttons - whichever she found first...

"-is there any new updates on the cause of the explosion?"

Kitsune blinked, turning slowly towards the television. Prominently displayed beneath the fake-concerned faces of the two reporters on the screen were the words 'EXPLOSION AT NARITA INTERNATIONAL'.

_'They're here.'_ she realized, her chest tightening in fear. _'The Black Hand.'_

Sliding slowly off the couch to a sitting position on the floor, Kitsune turned the volume down slightly, an appeasement to her rapidly-clearing hangover, but left it high enough that she could hear the response of the on-scene reporter, who stood blank-faced in front of a police barricade outside the airport, black smoke billowing into the sky in the distance behind him.

"Police are still investigating, but we have reports from eye witnesses that this was, indeed, a deliberate terrorist attack."

"Why such certainty?"

"We- one moment... ok, excellent timing. I've just been informed that we have some video here filmed by someone inside the terminal. This is likely to be disturbing footage, so it is recommended that children be turned away from the screen..."

The film was grainy, possibly having suffered some damage from the explosion, though the audio was perfectly clear. The first few moments of the footage showed little of note aside from people moving slowly through customs, the camera operator speaking with someone off screen, and then a figure in a long coat emerged from the mass and leaped on top of one of the security desks. A pair of guards quickly moved towards the disturbance, only to fall backwards in stunned surprise as the figure threw off the coat, revealing a woman with short, brown hair... and a vest of high explosives strapped to her body.

"KANE LIVES IN DEATH!" the woman roared, her voice loud enough that it could be clearly heard over the sudden sound of screaming as those nearby realized what was about to happen... and then there was-

_-a white flash, a loud roar, the blast of hot air on her face as strong arms encircled her and began to drag her towards a nearby alleyway-_

The recording ended, the shocked faces of the news reporters returning to the screen, but by then Kitsune had already leaped up and charged out of the room towards the nearest toilet, hands clamped over her mouth in a desperate attempt to hold back the bile rising in her throat. Only moments later the door opened, and Keitaro stepped through the threshold into the Hinata House, looking back and forth with an alert expression.

_'Could've sworn I heard someone moving around...'_ he thought, his right hand quietly sliding into his jacket to touch lightly on the grip of his Vervack Commando Elite.

But the only sounds now were that of a television that had apparently been left on, the talking heads pontificating about the 'incident' at the airport, clearly shocked and surprised but attempting to seem entirely knowledgeable about the situation. Keitaro kicked off his boots in the entryway, shoving them into the corner and crossing into the living room towards the television.

"Um, yes, we do believe that presents compelling evidence that this was, indeed, a deliberate terrorist attack orchestrated by a Brotherhood of Nod suicide bomber-"

Keitaro turned the television off, frowning.

_'Suicide bomber.'_ Keitaro's jaw clenched. _'Such a disgusting term to describe a Martyr.'_ he thought, recalling the faces of those Brothers and Sisters who had given their lives for the Brotherhood. Especially one-

Pushing away the memories that came unbidden to him, Keitaro straightened and looked about the room. A discarded sake bottle lay on the couch in front of the television, Keitaro picked it up and examined it for a moment. It was empty and seemed to have been finished only recently, unless it had been left on the furniture out of simple sloth. The rest of the room looked tidy, though, so Keitaro doubted it. Raising the bottle to his face, he sniffed once, then again, ignoring the strong, nearly overpowering scent of the alcohol to get at the more subtle smells hidden beneath; a hint of lavender and something like gold. For a moment he felt the impression of a fox's fur, but that was rapidly washed away by recognition. It was the scent of a woman, and Keitaro frowned as he remembered the sign out front.

_'So this _is_ a girl's dormitory. But why would grandmother have me billeted here-'_

Then he caught it. Pulling the bottle away from his face, he inhaled again, smelling the room itself. The musk of books and honey, Choji oil and sweat, lavender and alcohol - once more the image of a fox came to his mind, Keitaro pushed it away - cooking spices with a hint of sugar, bananas...

And incense. A very specific type of incense that as, to him, instantly recognizable. Only the most fervent of Nod's followers, the Black Hand among them, would burn even the barest touch of Tiberium powder in their devotions.

Keitaro smiled as he gently set his duffel pack on the couch. Now it made sense. There was a Brotherhood shrine somewhere in this building. He was amongst Sisters. Or at least one, anyway.

Leaving his pack in the living room and making his way into the hallway, bottle still in hand, Keitaro looked back and forth down the halls, trying to divine the location of the kitchen. He idly wished he'd had time to visit this place in his youth, but pushed the errant thought away - he noticed he was having more of those than usual after arriving here - and followed the faded smell of old cooking. His nose failed to lead him wrong, and in short order he was in the kitchen, discarding the empty sake bottle into the appropriate waste receptacle.

_'Much better.'_ he thought, brushing his hands together as if patting away errant dirt before turning back towards the hall. _'Now to see if anyone's here...'_

"I'm home!" a girl's voice called from the direction of the front doors.

_'How oddly convenient.'_

Keitaro walked out of the kitchen, preparing to head towards the new arrival, but stopped and turned around as he saw someone in the other direction, only a few feet away. The woman - short, dirty blond hair, dressed in a plain t-shirt and shorts - froze, staring at him in surprise. Keitaro had a feeling of familiarity from her, and yet again had the sudden image of a fox's fur-

Recognition.

"Well now, if it isn't Ms. Konno." he said, smiling and walking towards her. The woman blinked, and then her eyes widened as she too recognized him. "It's been a long time, hasn't it Kitsune-"

Kitsune screamed in terror.

-----

"I'm home!" Naru Narusegawa called out as she entered the Hinata House, kicking off her shoes by the front door and looking around. The front of the dorm, where she'd last seen Kitsune earlier that morning, was deserted, and Naru wondered if her friend had returned to her room or gone to the hot springs for a bath. _'I hope Haruka didn't show up and try to run her out while we were gone...'_

Bending over to move her shoes over near the wall, Naru paused, surprised, as she saw a pair of black military-style boots sitting haphazardly in the corner, one having fallen over on it's side, as if they had been placed there hurriedly. _'These are new,'_ she thought, peering closer at them, _'I wonder who bought them, they look too big to be-'_

Somewhere deeper in the house, Kitsune started screaming.

_'Kitsune?!'_ Naru shot to her feet, _'Is it Haru- no.'_ the boots! _Men's_ boots! _'A pervert!'_

Naru charged through the living room, hurtling over the couch and the bulky black duffel bag sitting in it, then rushing down the hallway like a mad bull. right, then left, and there past the door to the kitchen was Kitsune, laying on the ground shaking in fear, a man in black pants and brown leather jacket standing over her, reaching down-

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU PERVERT!" Naru screamed, seeing red, as she leaped toward him and readied an Earth-shattering blow-

The man whirled and, lightning quick, punched her in the face. Naru grunted in pain, her head snapping backwards and a thin trickle of blood running from her - fortunately not broken - nose. _'Dammit! He's strong!'_ She thought, stumbling a bit to lean against the wall and getting a better look at her opponent now that he faced her. The man had short brown hair, stylish glasses and a bit of stubble on his chin - Naru was briefly and painfully reminded of her old mentor Seta, but shoved the thought aside - and seemed surprised and a bit shame-faced about something. Behind him Naru could see Kitsune scrabbling backwards on her hands and feet, clearly still unable to stand.

"Bastard!" she growled, rubbing the blood away from her upper lip, "What did you do to her?!"

"You should not have attacked me like that, Sister." the man said, ignoring her question and shifting from his fighting stance to stand straight up, staring down at her - _'Kami, he's taller than Motoko!'_ - and frowning, like a school teacher lecturing an unruly student.

"Answer my question!"

"I-"

"DIE, FIEND!" a third voice roared, and the man ducked as Motoko Aoyama shot forward, her sword slashing over his head where his neck had been. The man again countered quickly, driving an elbow into the swordwoman's stomach and forcing her back a step, but Motoko rallied and renewed her assault. The man snarled and leaped backwards _through_ the wall behind him, fleeing through the room's normal doorway to the side and fighting for distance as Motoko pursued, screaming threats.

Naru ran up to Kitsune and crouched down to check on her. "Kitsune! Are you alright?! Did he-"

"N-Naru! He... he, I-"

Naru growled at her friend's stuttering, which to her was all the confirmation she needed. "That _bastard!_" she shot to her feet, fists clenched, "I'll _**kill**__ him!_"

"Naru! I-" Kitsune took a breath and tried to gather her wits as sounds of battle drifted down from the floor above, "I- I _know_ him! He, you-"

"Don't worry, Kitsune..." Naru turned and ran off to aid Motoko in bringing **justice**, "We'll make sure he _never_ bothers you again!"

"But...!"

"Mitsune-sempai! What's going on? Are you alright?"

Kitsune turned as Shinobu ran up to her, Kaolla walking more calmly a few paces behind. "Su, he's-"

Kaolla briefly raised a finger to her lips, glancing down at Shinobu who was too caught up checking Kitsune for injuries to notice.

_'That's right.'_ Kitsune realized, _'I can't tell the others about...'_

"C'mon." Kaolla said, stepping around them and waving forward. "We need to stop them from before this gets out of hand."

-----

_'This is getting out of hand.'_ Keitaro thought, deflecting a kick with one arm and dodging away from a follow-up sword strike as he scrambled to gain enough distance to go for his Commando Elite. _'She's too fast, too close...'_

Ducking beneath the sword-wielding girl's next blow, Keitaro darted forward to deliver a fierce jab to his opponent's stomach, followed by an uppercut that connected solidly and forced the kendoka back a step. He lunged for her sword arm, seeking to either disarm or disable her, but had to fall back as the girl with the long auburn hair flew towards him with a hay-maker. Keitaro sidestepped the blow and caught her beneath the arms - the girl screeched in furious indignation as his left hand briefly pressed against her breast - before spinning her around and slamming her face-first into the wall, then bodily hurling her towards his other opponent as she stepped forward to rejoin the fray. The sword-wielder lowered her blade to avoid impaling her partner and ducked, allowing the other girl to roll as she hit the ground and come up in a crouch.

Keitaro stepped back as the girl stood once more, reaching toward his jacket-

"ZANGANKEN!"

"What the hell-" Keitaro tried to dodge the sudden blast of wind, but was caught up and hurled backwards. The swordswoman dashed forward, sword raised over her head to strike a killing blow-

And stumbled to a halt as Keitaro snatched his Commando Elite from his jacket and pointed it at her face. "Drop the sword, or I drop you. And don't try to go for a ki attack, you won't catch me off guard again."

"Coward!" Motoko spat, lowering her blade - slowly - to the floor as Naru and the rest of the Hinata House's residents ran up, flinching as they realized the intruder in the dorm was armed. "Using a filthy _gun...!_"

"Whatever it takes," Keitaro replied, keeping his weapon centered on the raven-haired girl in the hakama and gi's chest. "Now tell me what's going on here - why did you attack me?"

The auburn-haired girl growled and clenched her fist. Keitaro kept his gun trained on Motoko, but shifted his stance slightly to be able to swing his weapon in her direction at a moment's notice if necessary. "After what you did to Kitsune-"

"I've done nothing to Ms. Konno-"

"A shame."

Keitaro froze as the click of a gun's safety sounded from off to his right. Haruka advanced down the hallway, a matte black Beretta 92 pistol in her hands and aimed directly at Keitaro's head. "The both of you deserve hell for what you two did." she said, glaring.

The girls shifted uncomfortably at Haruka's words, Kitsune looking down and away. "You know this fiendish _male_, Haruka-san?" Motoko asked, reaching down to retrieve her sword and freezing as the man's gun continued to track her movements.

"I'd say she does." Keitaro kept his eyes and aim firmly centered on Motoko. "Long time no see, cousin-"

_**"Don't call me that."**_ Haruka seethed through clenched teeth, stepping closer even as the girls save Kaolla and Kitsune blinked in startled confusion. "You have _no right_ to call me that. Not after what you did."

"And what was that, Haruka dear?"

"Don't play games with me Keitaro." Haruka was only feet away now, her face furious. "I don't know why you're here, but you're not welcome. _Get. Out._"

"I'm shocked, Haruka. You shouldn't treat family li-"

"Family? _FAMILY? _How _dare_ you call me that! You _bastard!_ You have _NO RIGHT!_" she was nearly screaming now, striding forward to press the barrel of her Beretta into Keitaro's temple. "No right, you butcher! You **_murdered-_**"

-----

**Author's Note:** Cliffhangers, mwahaha.

Those of you familiar with the Love Hina and C&C timelines may want to know I've made some slight changes. Events in Love Hina have been moved forward three years to coincide with the Battle of Sarajevo at the end of the first Command & Conquer (Tiberian Dawn), as according to the final official timeline released by Westwood shortly before the company was dismantled by EA. Most members of the cast have had their birth dates moved forward to keep them at their canon ages, but this has not been done for Shinobu, Kaolla or Sarah, who are therefore older than in canon. Shinobu and Kaolla, for example, are now the same age as Motoko. This does not necessarily mean I'll be pairing Keitaro with either of them however, so don't get your hopes up. At this point, _I_ don't know what pairings may develop during the course of the story. We'll just have to see.

I can hear some of you rushing to point out my reference of Haruka being Hina's granddaughter as inaccurate already. Allow me to explain: according to the official databook written by Ken Akamatsu after Love Hina finished it's manga run, and the Love Hina novels written by Hiroyuki Kawasaki, Haruka is Keitaro's _cousin_ rather than aunt. According to the Urashima family tree Haruka's mother and Keitaro's mother are sisters, and both Hina's daughters - after Haruka's mother died, she was taken in by her grandmother. Keitaro's assumption (or possibly a family in-joke) that she is his aunt is inaccurate and partly why she keeps beating him upside the head whenever he calls her that (the other part of course being the implication that Haruka is old).

You won't be seeing any friendly scuffles between Keitaro and Haruka here though, I can guarantee you that right now.


End file.
